Steel Wind: Colonel Georg Bruchmuller and the Birth of Modern Artillery / Edition 1

by David T. Zabecki

Overview

Steel Wind is a piece of historical detective work that explains how Colonel Georg Bruchmuller, an obscure German artillery officer recalled from retirement, played a pivotal role in the revolution of offensive tactics that took place in 1917-18. Ironically, the methods developed by Bruchmuller ultimately were rejected by the German Army of World War II, but they were taken up and applied with a vengeance by the emerging Red Army. The Soviets further developed Bruchmuller's principles and incorporated them into their doctrine, where they remain to this day. Through Soviet doctrine, they have become fundamental to the practice of many other armies. Bruchmuller's influence in shaping the former Soviet Army has also been mirrored in the shape of those armies designed to oppose it.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780275947507
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	12/08/1994
Series:	Military Profession Series
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.47(d)

About the Author

DAVID T. ZABECKI, an Engineer by profession, is a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. He is a field artillery officer with an additional skill designator as a historian. He is currently a contributing editor to Military History magazine. In 1987 he received the General John J. Pershing Award as the Distinguished Honor Graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. Presently, he is enrolled in the U.S. Army War College. In 1968 he served as an infantry rifleman during the Vietnam War's Tet Offensive.

Table of Contents

Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Foreword by J.B.A. Bailey
Introduction
Artillery Combat in the First World War
The Tactical and Technological Environment
The Phases of Artillery Use in World War I
Riga: Movement Returbans to the Battlefield
The Man Who Synchronized Fire and Maneuver
Bruchmüller's Tactics
Neutralization
Organization for Combat
Preparation of the Battlefield
Combined Arms Coordination
Operational Security and Surprise
Fire Support Planning
Fire Support for Ludendorff's 1918 Offensives
The St. Quentin Offensive
The Lys Offensive
The Chemin des Dames Offensive
The Noyon Offensive
The Champagne-Marne Offensive
The Aftermath
Bruchmüller's Legacy
Bruchmüller's Lessons of the (First) World War
Influence on the German Army
Influence on the British, French, and U.S. Armies
Influence on the Russian and Soviet Armies
Echoes of Bruchmüller
Epilogue
Appendix A: The Military Career of Georg Bruchmüller
Appendix B: Bruchmüller's Military Decorations and Orders
Appendix C: Bruchmüller's World War I Staff
Appendix D: The Imperial German Artillery in the First World War
Appendix E: Glossary of World War I Era Artillery and Military Terms
Bibliography
Index